15 insurgents killed in Baghdad

US and Iraqi security forces killed 15 insurgents in overnight clashes in an area near Balad in Baghdad, a provincial police source said on Sunday.

"Gunmen attacked an Iraqi army and police joint patrol at about 10:00 pm on Saturday night in a rural area at the southern edge of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad," said the source.

US troops at the area provided support for the Iraqi security forces, the source added.

Up to 15 insurgents were killed in the clashes, he said, adding that an Iraqi soldier was wounded and a military vehicle was damaged.

In a separate incident, gunmen shot dead five workers of a mill and wounded four in Mahmoudiyah town, near Baghdad, on Sunday while police found 17 unidentified bodies from different parts of the capital.

The bullet-riddled bodies were bound and blindfolded, showing signs of torture.